School Daze

Chandler's first day of school of yesterday. He is bound and determined to have a great school year and to be a better student. His teacher is the same teacher that Rob had in fifth grade and his first male teacher at that!

Mr. C has two major programs going on in his class--tickets and minutes.

Tickets are given for just about anything--good behavior, random acts of kindness, turning in homework of A or B quality, asking or answering questions in class, etc. They may be kept in the desk of the individual or turned in to Mr. C who also acts as the ticket banker. Tickets my be taken for bad behavior, missing assigments and (the biggie) getting sent to the office (which costs 40 tickets). If one goes into ticket debt, new ones earned are not banked until the debt is paid. Various snacks and items may be purchased with tickets.

Minutes are recorded for read both in and out of school. For each 100 minutes read by a student, a block on a lo-oooong chart is colored in. Chandler claims the chart is 12 feet long. If a student achieves all the blocks being colored in, Mr. C will go to the restaurant of that student's choice (within driving distance) and bring that student back lunch! Last year, the top restaurants were Imo's, China King and McDonalds. Needless to say, Chandler came home and read for THREE HOURS!

During a brief Q&A session, the students asked Mr. C how old he was. The reply (which Chandler relayed wide-eyed) is that Mr. C said that he doesn't give out that information freely...it is like a mystery...he was born during the Korean war. If they kids really want to know his age, they should do a little research!

Single Parenting

I have a pretty good idea what it is like to be a single parent with Rob having been gone practically a week now (one more week to go!). It isn't that much different that when he is there except for one thing--usually he drops them at school around 9:00 a.m. and I pick them up around 3:00 p.m. so they are really only away from one of us for about 6 hours.

Now, with me droppong them off in the wee hours and picking them up afterwards, they go some 8 1/2 to 9 hours without one of us. Talk about guilt! They don't seem to mind but it is awful for me. I can't stand them being away from us for such a long time. It is horrible! I don't know how parents who have to do that stand it. I am alright because I know it is only two weeks out of their life...but still. It isn't easy.

And He's Off...

Rob left yesterday for Chicago for his home inspection training. He arrived last night and said his room is small but comfortable. He drove around and found a synagague, the school and a store for goods all within a couple of minutes. He was pleased.

Alia woke up and asked if Daddy was back yet. Nope. Alright, she said.